EXCERPT: “A series of low-income landlord lawsuits, started over a decade ago and alleging that St. Paul city housing codes had a discriminatory impact against minorities, is now officially dead. The three lawsuits, which started in 2004, accused the city of going to excessive lengths to condemn the properties of 16 landlords — a ‘code to the max’ strategy that the landlords said reduced the number of affordable housing units available to minorities. They claimed the result was a violation of, or had ‘disparate impact’ under, the federal Fair Housing Act. But following a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that created a higher legal standard, the five remaining landlords who had stuck with the suit for over a decade dropped their claims. ‘We’re very pleased for the city, and I think this is the right result based on the current state of the law. And I think this will sharpen the focus for future claims like this,’ said Skip Durocher, the lead attorney with Dorsey & Whitney, which represented St. Paul pro bono. John Shoemaker, the Minneapolis-based attorney for the five remaining plaintiffs, who he said lost their properties over a decade ago, said, ‘They were 12 to 13 years in a federal court action against city hall, and they were never able to present their cases to a jury. And then the court changes the law that applies to something that happened 15 years ago? The fairness of that is questionable.'” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2eIMyle